Bad Weather? Watch the Orionid Meteor Shower Online Tonight

The Orionid meteor shower will put on a spectacular show of celestial rock and fire this weekend, and you can watch the whole thing online. The meteor shower will be at its peak, Space.com said, during the early morning hours on Sunday, particularly just before the sun emerges from sleep.

“Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Halley’s Comet, the source of the Orionids,” meteor expert Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office said in a statement. “Flakes of comet dust hitting the atmosphere should give us dozens of meteors per hour.”

If bad weather or city light pollution prevents you from seeing the show first-hand, NASA will begin live-streaming tonight at 11 p.m. EDT, and end at 3 a.m. EDT on Sunday. In addition, astronomer Mitzi Adams will be available to answer questions live, giving sky-gazers a unique perspective on the big event.

By sheer coincidence, Saturday (today) is Astronomy Day, so if you do have the opportunity to find a dark corner of the country, it’ll be one big day of appreciation.